Do you find it hard to resist the ping of a new email, the urge to scroll on social media, or watch the next episode when streaming? Do you wish you could stop checking, clicking, liking and sharing? Then put down your phone and listen to this episode.
My guest today is Adam Alter, an associate professor of marketing and psychology, bestselling author of ‘Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and The Business of Keeping Us Hooked’ and an expert on the compulsive nature of technology. Adam explains how tech companies make it their business to know exactly how to keep us engaged for hours on end. He shares some of the hooks embedded in products to ‘catch’ us, such as variable reinforcement (those likes and shares on social media), goals and rewards, and a lack of stopping cues (there’s always another video cued up, another game level to play…). And how do they know all these techniques work? Big data. They simply look at what makes us click.
Tech giants prey on our capacity for ‘behavioural addiction’, which like other addictions can undermine our mental health and relationships. Playing with a phone is not just trivial distraction it can have real consequences, especially for our children – something that as a parent really concerns me. Adam suggests we should be teaching our kids ‘digital hygiene’ in schools and I couldn’t agree more.
Of course, there are many positive uses of tech, like education, admin, communicating with loved ones we can’t see in person. But when screen time starts to harm our wellbeing, Adam says we need to look at what psychological needs it’s meeting. What’s lacking in our lives that leads us to numb the discomfort by picking up that phone or tablet?
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Adam says, it is possible to live a rich, meaningful, healthy life in our tech-driven age. And we discuss some of the solutions we’re both using to wean ourselves and our families off screens. We agree it’s about intention, using tech where we need and enjoy it, but making a conscious decision to do without it at other times. Starting with an hour or two a day when you put your phone out of sight is a great example.
If, like me, you’ve recently watched The Social Dilemma, Netflix’s fascinating (and scary) take on persuasive technologies and surveillance capitalism, I think you’ll really appreciate Adam’s insights – and his reassurance that tech addiction is not a human failing.
Show notes available at drchatterjee.com/132
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Actionable Insights
1. Create Physical Phone Barriers
Keep your phone out of physical reach, especially in sensitive areas like the bedroom or dining room, to reduce its psychological effect and avoid relying on willpower. This can be achieved by placing it in another room, a designated ‘phone box’, or making it as hard to reach as possible.
2. Designate Screen-Free Periods
Establish consistent screen-free times, such as 60-90 minutes before bedtime and during dinner, to carve out periods of the day without digital distraction and improve well-being. Try this for a week, and if you don’t like it, you can always revert.
3. Audit Your Screen Behavior
Evaluate your screen use by identifying what psychological needs it’s meeting (e.g., loneliness, boredom, anxiety) and which forms of screen use (e.g., social media, gaming, doom scrolling) are robbing you of well-being, versus those that are enriching (e.g., connecting with loved ones, educational apps).
4. Practice Digital Mindfulness
Be intentional about why you are picking up your phone or using an app; understanding the underlying psychological need allows you to address it in alternative, healthier ways.
5. Curate Your Digital Environment
Intentionally choose which apps to download and keep on your home screen, and carefully curate your social media feeds (e.g., unfollowing news channels or people) to ensure they provide value and wisdom rather than constant distractions.
6. Limit Tech Use Around Children
Avoid staring at your phone when with your children to prevent modeling that behavior and ensure you are mentally present, fostering stronger family relationships.
7. Reduce Screen Time Stepwise
Implement a gradual reduction in screen time, such as starting with an hour before bed and progressively increasing screen-free periods in the morning and evening, to ease the transition and improve mental health.
8. Use Airplane Mode Strategically
Turn your smartphone into a ‘dumb phone’ by activating airplane mode when you only need its camera or other offline functions, preventing texts and emails from grabbing your attention.
9. Seek Timeless Natural Experiences
Spend time in natural environments (e.g., forests, parks, by water) or engage in conversations where you are not surrounded by modern technology, allowing for restorative periods where you ‘have no idea what year it is’.
10. Consider a Dumb Phone
Experiment with using a basic phone that only allows calls and text messages to understand what it feels like to be less connected and what you might gain from such a change.